Vampire Diaries Star Kat Graham's Secret to Badassery

Kat Graham plays a bitchin' witch on The Vampire Diaries—and she's all about girl power in real life, too.

Though her new jam, "Wanna Say," is a love song, Kat tells Cosmopolitan.com: "I have more of a desire to write songs about being an independent woman than being in love, songs about getting up and moving on even if I have a broken heart. 'Wanna Say' is one of the few love songs I've ever done."

More From Cosmopolitan

Romance has to be the brain, though, as Kat is reportedly engaged to boyfriend Cottrell Guidry. Though she's hush-hush about potential wedding plans, Kat says she wasn't always so lucky in love.

"You really have to find your match and I'm fortunate to have found mine," she told us. "Before this, I was with someone who was really competitive with me and even though he was one of the great loves of my life, it was becoming a fight to the finish. It's trial and error out there—you don't know what you want until you get what you don't want."

Like her badass on-screen witch Bonnie, Kat says she's all about female empowerment—for herself and her fans.

"I love playing a character that gives girls a sense of conviction," she said. "There was a time when men thought it was sexy to have a housewife waiting for him to come home from work in her slippers, but in modern society, I think an independent woman is even more sexy."